Things don’t add up, say family of Ann Widdecombe murder suspect

The man suspected of killing veteran politician Ann Widdecombe has been described as a shy and quiet individual who lived by himself in his late father’s house. Detectives have been questioning the man, 28, for a week after Widdecombe was found dead in her bungalow in Haytor Vale, Devon, on 9 July. She had been killed 24 hours earlier, police believe. The suspect lives on a council estate in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, in the house he shared with his father, who died a few months ago. Neighbours and family members described him as “quiet and unassuming”.

His uncle told the BBC that his legs “went like jelly” when he found out his nephew had been arrested. “He’s the last person I would think would do anything like that,” he said. “Things don’t add up…” The BBC did not name the suspect or his uncle.

An aunt said the suspect’s father had died suddenly several months ago, telling the Daily Mail that the suspect “never came out” of the house and that his father’s death had been “a nasty setback”.

Counter-terrorism police took over the investigation last Monday and the next day announced that Widdecombe, a spokeswoman for the Reform UK party, had died in a “targeted attack”. In a press conference at New Scotland Yard, assistant commissioner Laurence Taylor, head of counter-terrorism policing for the UK, said the force was keeping an open mind about motive and it would not rule out far-left political motivation. Officers have also been investigating whether or not other politicians may have been at risk, it is understood.

Officers believe Widdecombe, a former Tory prisons minister who appeared on the BBC’s Strictly Come Dancing in 2010, was attacked at 12.30pm on Wednesday 8 July, shortly after she gave an interview to a Christian radio station. Her body was discovered in her home at about 11.40am the next day.

Nigel Farage, the Reform UK leader, has been criticised for sharing previously undisclosed information to the press last Saturday while he laid flowers near Widdecombe’s house. He later disclosed details of telephone briefings with the chief constable of Devon and Cornwall police and the prime minister, Keir Starmer.

Devon and Cornwall police force has been criticised for its handling of information related to the case, including during an initial press conference at which it ruled out terrorism and said there was no evidence to suggest a political motivation. Former home secretary Jack Straw said: “I assume that he [Farage] was briefed in confidence. But it’s symptomatic of a desperation by Farage to keep himself in the story.

“I think it’s entirely right in certain circumstances that members of parliament should be briefed by senior officers, however that confidentiality has to be respected and it seems on the face of it that it has not been.”

One former chief constable admitted to being “puzzled” by the police handling of the press conference and briefings. Another former chief said of Farage: “Those are confidential briefings, and you expect discretion, simple as that, not to go public with what they’ve been told.

“What chief is going to brief him on anything going forward, knowing that he can’t be trusted to keep it to himself?”

The suspect remains in police custody for questioning and officers have until tomorrow to charge him, secure an extension from a judge or release him. A 26-year-old local man arrested on 10 July was released with no further action.

Photograph by Finnbarr Webster / Getty Images